Colts Defense

After coming into the season with question marks swirling around the defense, once again, the Colts have proved that they bend but don’t break. Three weeks into the season the Colts are ranked third in the NFL in total points allowed, 45. According to NFL.com the Colts are third, behind the Denver Broncos and New York Jets. They are also tied for eighth in the league for total sacks with 7. 

However, they are currently ranked twenty-first in total rushing yards allowed per game at 125.7, NFL.com. The Colts must improve their rush defense, but despite popular opinion the Colts are playing fairly well on the defensive side of the ball thus far. Granted there is room for vast improvement, however, if the Colts can get healthy and improved to this new defense, I expect them to continue to make positive strides.

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AFC South Predictions: Week Three

AFC South Prediction Record: 5-3

Tennessee Titans @ New York Jets 

At 0-2 the Tennessee Titans are two games behind the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South, and this week doesn’t get any easier. After coming off a huge win against the Patriots, the Jets are playing great football right now. Both of these teams like to play smashmouth football with great defensive and a strong running attack, however, unlike the Jets the Titans have not been able to stop anyone this season. I look for each team to continue their respective streaks of winning and losing. Jets come out on top in a slugfest. 

Jets 24     Titans 20

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston Texans

The Texans are coming off a high-flying offensive performance against division rival Tennessee Titans, and this week will face a Jaguars team that is coming off a porous defensive performance against the Arizona Cardinals. Although the Texans are not as potent as the Cardinals, they still offer a well-oiled offensive machine led by arguably the best receiver in the NFL, Andre Johnson. I expect Maurice Jones-Drew to have a big day for the Jags, but in the end the Texans’ youth and talent proves to be to much to handle. 

Texans 27     Jaguars 17

Indianapolis Colts @ Arizona Cardinals

The Colts are coming off a very emotional and difficult win Monday night against the Dolphins, and now they must travel across the country to face the NFC Champions. This game features two explosive offensives that are led by two potent passing attacks. The Colts defense must play better than they did against the Dolphins Monday night. This game may come down to who’s defense can bend but not break, and who can stop the running game. Although I expect a tight game, it will be very difficult for the Colts to go across the country and stop this Cardinals’ offense.

Cardinals 27     Colts 24

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Injury Report: Colts @ Cardinals

Colts Injury Report: colts.com

The Colts issued Friday’s injury report with WR-Anthony Gonzalez (knee) and DB-Bob Sanders (knee) listed as out for Sunday’s game. LBs-Gary Brackett (knee) and Clint Session (ankle), DE-Dwight Freeney (back) and DB-Kelvin Hayden (hamstring) are listed as questionable. Freeney and Session were listed as full participation for Friday’s practice, while Brackett, Gonzalez, Hayden and Sanders did not participate in practice. RB-Joseph Addai and DB-Marlin Jackson were listed as did not participate-not injury related/rested for Friday’s practice.

Cardinals Injury Report: azcardinals.com

Notables: OT Levi Brown questionable, LB Ali Highsmith questionable, LB Chike Okeafor questionable, WR Steve Breaston questionable. 

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Four Colts Make All-Decade Team; One Tops List

Sportingnews.com came out with their NFL All-Decade Team this week, this team consists of both offensive and defensive players along with specialists. Colts fans will be happy to see that the Colts were represented very well, with four players making the team. Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Jeff Saturday, and Adam Vinatieri all made the team. Here is a look at the rest of the team…

SN NFL All-Decade Team:

OFFENSE
WR Marvin Harrison
WR Randy Moss
T Walter Jones
G Alan Faneca
C Jeff Saturday
G Steve Hutchinson
T Jonathan Ogden
TE Tony Gonzalez
QB Peyton Manning
FB Lorenzo Neal
RB LaDainian Tomlinson

DEFENSE
DE Michael Strahan
DT Richard Seymour
DT Casey Hampton
DE Jason Taylor
OLB Derrick Brooks
MLB Ray Lewis
OLB Joey Porter
CB Champ Bailey
CB Ronde Barber
S Brian Dawkins
S Ed Reed

SPECIALISTS
K Adam Vinatieri
P Shane Lechler
KR Dante Hall
PR Devin Hester

Sportingnews.com also revealed their NFL Athlete of the Decade, this debate came down to Manning vs. Brady. However, in the end Peyton Manning prevailed and claimed SN’s NFL Athlete of the Decade award.

Manning: 102-43 record, 38,055 passing yards, 282 TDs, 123 INTs, three MVPs, one Super Bowl
Brady: 88-25 record, 27,040 passing yards, 199 TDs, 88 INTs, one MVP, three Super Bowls

Clearly Brady has the edge in terms of Super Bowls, but Manning’s numbers speak for themselves. In all honesty I would take either one of these quarterbacks, a simple coin flip may be the best and simplest way to solve this everlasting debate.

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Notes From Week 2

The Colts are off to a 2-0 start this year, and after an impressive win in Miami it looks like the Colts are going to be able to survive the loss of Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison better than expected. Coming off a respectable win against the divisional rival Jaguars, the Colts took on the Miami Dolphins in front of the entire nation. After a hard fought and thrilling game, the Colts came out victorious. With the win coming in classic Colts style, Manning was able to lead the Colts down the field for the game winning score. 

Although the Colts are off to a hot start at 2-0, the defense is, once again, proving to be an enormous question mark surrounding this team. After struggling to stop Jacksonville’s running attack in week 1, week 2 against the Dolphins proved to be even tougher for the Colts defense, who surrendered 239 rushing yards Monday night. The wildcat formation used by the Dolphins gave the Colts’ defense fits, and the defensive line simply got man-handled. After adding both depth and bulk to the defensive tackle positions it seemed like the Colts may have finally addressed their run defense problems this offseason. However, Monday night showed that there are still problems along the line that must be fixed. 

Along with the defensive line struggles, it seems Larry Coyer also struggled to make the right adjustments against the Dolphins’ wildcat. If you look at the blueprint for how defenses have had success in the past stopping the Dolphins’ wildcat, Coyer did the opposite of that blueprint. Instead of blitzing and clogging the line of scrimmage with as many men as possible, the Colts had the defensive line stunt and twist, while their linebackers sat back and waited for the runner. This allowed for the Dolphins to run right at the Colts and simply overwhelm them. 

However, a win is a win, and the emergence of young players, such as, Pierre Garcon and Donald Brown was great to see. The Colts were also able to learn a lot about themselves, and hopefully they can improve and focus on key areas of their team that became exposed.

Official Colts Site Postgame: colts.com

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Colts Name Captains

On Mondy, September 14, Jim Caldwell announced the four captains that will represent the Indianapolis Colts for the 2009 season. As reported by colts.com, the four players that will serve as captains this year are Peyton Manning, Gary Brackett, Adam Vinatieri, and Melvin Bullitt.

“We’ve always had two captains…and we would select special teams captains on a weekly basis. But this year we did it a little differently,” Caldwell said.

Bullitt is the youngest of the four captains, and has done a nice job filling in for a Colts secondary that experiences injuries quite often. 

“It is an honor,” Bullitt said. “There are a lot of guys who could have (been named captain) and done a great job, so I’m happy to be in this position.”

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AFC South Predictions: Week Two

AFC South Prediction Record: 3-1

Houston Texans @ Tennessee Titans

Coming into this game the Texans and Titans are both coming off tough losses to very defensive oriented teams. However, unlike the Texans the Titans were able to play solid defense against the Steelers, and keep themselves in the game. On the other hand the Texans had a difficult time stopping the Jets running game, and could not get anything going offensively. Thus, I give the advantage to the heavy run oriented team, expect the Titans to try and run all over the Texans and pick up their first win of the year.

Titans 20     Texans 13 

Arizona Cardinals @ Jacksonville Jaguars

After falling short of taking down the Indianapolis Colts, the Jaguars now have to face another dynamic passing attack in the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals also lost a tough divisional matchup last week against the San Francisco 49ers. Neither team looked great, however, the Cardinals were not nearly as effective offensively as they had been all of last season. I expect Kurt Warner and the Cardinals offense run more smoothly this week, and get back to where they were last season. 

Cardinals 24     Jaguars 21

Indianapolis Colts @ Miami Dolphins 

The Colts current sit alone atop the AFC South at 1-0, and this week must travel to Miami to face a Dolphins team that shocked the NFL last season. This will also mark the first time that the Colts have been to Miami since winning Super Bowl XLI nearly 2 1/2 years ago. The Dolphins will try to win this game with solid ball control and stout defense, and the less any team has to see of Peyton Manning the better. If the Colts can force Pennington to leave his comfort zone the Colts will be able to control the game. If the Colts can play solid defense, and produce offensively like we have grown accustom too, the Colts will win.

Colts 24     Dolphins 13

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Colts add Receiver

The Indianapolis Colts have signed former Philadelphia Eagles receiver Hank Baskett. ESPN  This move comes after the loss of Anthony Gonzalez to a knee injury. Although Basket has not been a stud receiver in the NFL the Colts are hoping that he can help fill the void left by Gonzalez.

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Colts Cut Two

Acorrding to CBS Sports the Indianapolis Colts have cut kicker Shane Andrus and linebacker Cody Glenn. The Colts had to make room for defensive tackle Ed Johnson’s return, and the cuts also opened up an extra spot on the roster leaving the Colts with the opportunity to possibly sign a wide reciever.

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Notes From Week 1

Although Peyton Manning and the offense were not as sharp as what we have come to expect, the defense stepped up big time and played better than expected, even without Bob Sanders. Instead of the offense and Manning driving down the field for a fourth quarter victory, it was the defense who stood firm and played exceptional red zone football at the end of the game. Hopefully Sunday allowed the offense to shake off the dust, and by next week they will be firing on all cylinders. However,the defensive effort Sunday gave hope that the defense will be able to provide a much needed boost this season that the Colts have lacked in the past.

Maurice Jones-Drew, who annually runs all over the Colts, was held to 97 yards rushing on 21 carries. Granted, 97 yards is decent amount, however, for a Colts defense that has been known to struggle stopping the run and Jones-Drew, it was a good performance.

However, Sunday’s win was a bit tarnished by the possible loss of Anthony Gonzalez. Gonzalez went down on his own after trying to get off of the line of scrimmage, a phantom injury which no one could have seen coming. The Colts can only hope that Gonzalez will be out 2-4 weeks, opposed to the entire season. 

With the injury obtained by Gonzalez, there were rumors floating around about possibly signing Marvin Harrison. However, according to Peter King, Sports Illustrated  , the Colts will not bring Harrison out of retirement regardless of the extent of Gonzalez’s injury.

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